The Interior Castle

I have told you, friends, that the further a soul journeys on her path, the more she finds herself accompanied by the good Jesus. When His Majesty wills it, we can’t do anything other than walk with him all the time. All you have to do is look around you to see that this is true. Doesn’t His Majesty communicate himself to us in wonderful visions and other manifestations? Isn’t it obvious that he loves us?

If the Beloved grants you any of the favors I am about to describe (and if he grants me the ability to describe them with any success!), I don’t want you to be afraid. Praise him. Praise him even if he doesn’t grant you these favors. What we are doing is giving thanks that he who is filled with all majesty and all power is pleased to commune like this with a creature.

It may happen that while the soul is not in any way expecting it she will feel the presence of Christ beside her. She sees him with neither the eyes of the body nor the eyes of the soul. This is called an intellectual vision; I don’t know why.

I saw that God had granted this favor to a certain person. She was frightened at first because, since she couldn’t see anything, she didn’t know what was happening to her. She did know with absolute certainty, however, that it was Christ. Though invisible to the senses, he revealed himself so clearly that she could not doubt it was him. What I mean is, she could not doubt that she was having this vision and that the experience itself was real. What she couldn’t be sure about was whether or not the experience was from God. Even though the effects strongly indicated that it was, she still worried. She had never heard of an intellectual vision; she never suspected there was such a thing. But she realized that Christ had been talking with her all along. Until the Beloved granted her this favor, she never knew who it was that had been speaking with her, though she understood the words. It’s not a visual revelation, which passes very quickly. It can last for many days, sometimes even more than a year.

This woman I am speaking about went to her spiritual advisor, quite disturbed. He asked her how she knew that it was Christ who was with her, since she didn’t actually see anything. He demanded that she describe his face, but she explained that she never saw any face. She said that she had already told him everything she could. All she knew was that he was the one who had been speaking to her all along and that this vision was real. Although other people tried to sow seeds of doubt in her heart, they could not sprout. She was incapable of doubt, especially when Christ said to her, “Be not afraid; it is I.”

These words had such power that from then on her confidence in the authenticity of the vision was unshakable. It strengthened her and left her glad for such excellent companionship. She saw clearly how this vision helped her walk with continual remembrance of God. It seemed that the Beloved was always looking at her, and so she avoided doing anything that might displease him. When she had the urge to speak to His Majesty—in prayer or outside it—she sensed that he was so near he couldn’t help but hear her. It’s not as if she could listen to his words whenever she wanted to, but he spoke to her at unexpected times, when she needed it. She felt him walking at her right side. She didn’t experience this with the ordinary senses that tell us there is someone next to us, but in a subtler, more delicate way that transcends explanation. Yet it is absolutely unmistakable.

This vision leaves the soul even more certain than other revelations; the ones that come in the form of sensory imagery can deceive us. Deception is not possible in an intellectual vision. The effects it creates inside the soul are so beneficial that the spirit of evil could never be responsible for them. The experience could not be the result of mental imbalance, either. The soul is washed with profound serenity. All she wants is to please God, and she rejects anything that does not lead her to him.

Later, this woman I’ve been telling you about attained a clear realization that her vision did not come from the spirit of evil, and this became increasingly apparent as her journey unfolded. Still, I do know that at times this woman felt intensely confused and afraid because she couldn’t figure out why such goodness had come to her. The reason I know about this is that she and I were so close, nothing happened in her soul that I didn’t know about, and so I’m a reliable witness. Believe me, everything I have said is true.

This radical humility and awe are favors from the Beloved. If the vision came from the spirit of evil, it would have the opposite effects. The soul understands that this is a gift from God and that no human effort could create the experience. The person going through it can in no way mistake it for her own but knows it to be a gift from the hand of God.

In my opinion, some of the other experiences we’ve talked about are more sublime, but this one bears with it a special knowledge of God. The constancy of divine companionship gives rise to a most tender love for His Majesty. It intensifies the soul’s desire to surrender herself completely to serving him. It awakens a more profound purity of consciousness because the presence at her side makes her more sensitive to everything. We already know, of course, that God is present in all that we do, but it is in our nature to lose sight of this fact. In a vision like this, it’s impossible to forget, because the Beloved himself awakens the soul to the divine presence beside her. As the soul’s love for the one she knows to be walking with her grows more real and more constant, the other favors we’ve talked about become more common, as well.

On the whole, the value of the vision is proven by the wonderful ways the soul grows as a result of it. The soul is deeply grateful to the Beloved for bestowing such a blessing on someone who hasn’t earned it. She wouldn’t exchange this gift for any treasure or pleasure on earth. When the Beloved decides to take the vision away, the soul feels terribly lonely. But all the effort she could possibly make would not bring back that sweet companionship. The Beloved gives it when he wills it to be given; it cannot be acquired but only humbly received.

If she can’t see anything, how can the soul know that this presence is Christ, or his most glorious Mother, or a saint? The soul will not be able to explain it. She herself does not understand how she knows it with such absolute certainty. It’s easier to identify Christ when he speaks. But even when it’s a saint who appears and doesn’t say a word, the soul knows that he has been sent by the Beloved to be her companion and help her. Isn’t that marvelous? There are all kinds of spiritual experiences that cannot be explained, but they teach us about the limitations of our nature and highlight the sublime wonders of God. We can’t figure these things out. All we can do is receive them with gratitude and awe.

Since the Beloved does not grant these blessings to everyone, the soul should cherish them when they come and strive to do ever greater service, knowing that it is God who enables her to serve. In this way, she realizes that being the recipient of such grace does not make her superior over others. In fact, she sees herself as being more inept than anyone on earth when it comes to serving God and that no one else has a greater obligation to serve him than she does. Any fault that she commits pierces her to the core of her being, and rightly so.

Any of you whom the Beloved leads along this path will recognize the effects I’ve been describing. These are what will convince you that this vision is not a delusion or a fantasy. Remember: a vision brought on by the spirit of evil could never last so long or leave the soul with such wondrous benefits, clothing her in deep inner peace. Something so bad could never do something so good, even if it wanted to. If the vision came from an evil source, the soul would immediately start putting on some outward show, trying to convince everyone of how much more important and spiritual she is than anybody else. Instead, the soul goes around hopelessly attached to the Beloved, her thoughts totally centered on him. This enrages the spirit of evil, which may lash out and try to deceive her again, but not often. Besides, God is so faithful that he will protect a soul whose only goal is to please His Majesty and devote her entire life to his honor and glory.

My point is and will continue to be this: these favors from God inspire the soul to walk with beauty and grace, which inspires him to give her even more. If he sometimes allows the spirit of evil to challenge the soul, he will make sure that the evil one is defeated. And so, friends, if any of you travels this road, do not be afraid. At the same time, it’s a good thing to stay alert and step with care, because if you become overconfident you could stumble and fall. Check to see if the effects of the vision harmonize with what I’ve told you about. If not, that’s a sign that the vision probably does not come from God.

In the beginning, it’s better to share this experience only with someone you trust to keep it confidential. It should be an intelligent person who has studied broadly, because people of learning can shed light on these things. It’s best to speak with a deeply spiritual person, but if there is no such person around, then seek out the educated one. A person who is both educated and spiritual, of course, would be ideal. If they tell you the vision is a fantasy, don’t worry. A fantasy may not help much, but it can’t harm you, either. Throw yourself at the mercy of the divine Majesty, asking that he not let you be deceived. If they tell you that your vision comes from the spirit of evil, you have something to worry about. But anyone with any real spiritual sensitivity will know from the effects the vision has produced in you when this is not the case. If he says such a thing anyway, I know that the Friend who walks with you will console and reassure you and that he will illumine the heart of your confidant so that he in turn may illuminate you.

Maybe the person advising you has a cultivated spiritual practice of his own. So what? If he has not yet been led by the Beloved along this path, then what you tell him will scare him and he will judge you hastily. That’s why I’m recommending that you choose someone who is both knowledgable and wise. Even though it may seem like all is well with you, people who care about you should encourage you to seek this counsel if you feel you need it—for your sake and theirs.

Once you have consulted with the appropriate person, be still and don’t keep talking about it. Sometimes, even when the soul has nothing to fear, the spirit of evil stirs such doubts in her that she cannot be satisfied with a single consultation. At other times, if her advisor hasn’t had much experience, a soul like this may scare him and he will belabor the point and even turn something that should have been kept a secret into a public spectacle.

When this happens, it opens the soul to persecution and torment. There she was, thinking she had confided in only one person, and it turns out the whole world knows about her private vision. Judging from the way things are going these days, I could anticipate that a drama like this could attract many problems, not only to her as an individual but to her spiritual community as a whole. I recommend a high degree of discretion, both to the soul who has had this vision and to her spiritual guide.

Also, remember that just because someone you may be advising has had a spiritual experience of this kind, it doesn’t make her any more special than anyone else. The Beloved sees what each of us needs and guides us accordingly. Assuming we can cooperate, the purpose of this journey is to make us better servants of God. Sometimes it’s the weakest among us whom God leads along this path, so we have no reason to either approve or condemn them. Our only valid criteria for judgment are the virtues in the soul who is serving God. Is she humble, detached from personal desires, and is her conscience pure? If so, she is holy. Yet, here on earth, there is very little we can know with certainty. We have to wait until the true judge gives each of us what we deserve. In heaven, we will be surprised to discover how different his judgment is from what we thought it would be in this life.